The Best Of Friends
by Reptilian Rob
Summary: This whole scenario arose after playing the Shadow Broker DLC and looking over Garrus' files. All the thanks in the world goes out to "Clan V" for inspiring me to pick up writing again, I had forgotten how much I missed doing so.


Shepard walked down the narrow corridor that was the Normandy's CIC, leading up to the bridge. He stood there for a good five minutes, peering out of the multiple windows that encased a good portion of the cockpit. The violet-magenta haze of the Serpent nebula was veiled around the ship, the sprawling arms of the Citadel were the only points of interest Shepard could make out through the think dust and gas. It was one of those moments encased in solitude that rarely came his way; over the last couple of weeks it had been nothing but stress and adrenaline.

The last few months had been trying. The Collectors, Reapers, Cerberus, the numerous merc bands, and most recently the Shadow Broker were all weighing on the crew heavily. It seemed that rest and relaxation was taking a backseat to duty. It didn't help that Shepard felt his relationship with Liara was going south; now that she was the Shadow Broker they seemed further apart than ever. In truth, it didn't bother Shepard all that much; he'd be lying to himself if he said he didn't enjoy the constant hustle and bustle that combat and command brought. Although it took a toll on the rest of the crew, which is why Shepard had brought the SR2 into the Citadel's dock earlier that day.

His crew deserved a break, and most were happy enough to leave the Normandy's holds once they docked. Others weren't so thrilled, Miranda was going on about how it was a gross misallocation of funds, and Massani voiced his rather strong opinion earlier of how leave would make the crew weak or something of that sort. Most of the crew was busying themselves with the escapism the Citadel brought. Thane had made plans to visit his son near the Zakera Ward's market, Grunt, Jacob and Kasumi had made reservations with the Darkstar lounge to enjoy some fine dining, and an unlikely trio of friends is there ever was one. Tali, always the contributor to her people, had made it a priority to volunteer her leave time to the Citadel's Quarian dockyards. Jack was, doing whatever Jack did; Shepard really didn't want to think too much into what her interpretation of "shore leave" was. The other crewmates weren't specific with their plans; Shepard just hoped that they were enjoying themselves, and perhaps hoping that Joker wouldn't come back with any missing bones. As far as Shepard was concerned, he was the only one left on the Normandy.

Shepard made his way down to the Crew deck, he was in the mood for some of that stew Rupert had cooked up the night before. The droning of the elevator as is passes slowly through the decks was almost nostalgic, memories of the SR1 started racing through his mind. Ah, what a great ship he thought. As the elevator door lifted open, he couldn't contain himself at the though of having a meal alone, just to himself. As he walked towards the kitchen, he heard a slight buzzing sounds coming from the back, where the Thanix cannon was stationed. It was probably the door again. The sliding doors leading into the gun nest were always screwy, and they had a tendency to scrape the bottom floor panel when they opened. Shepard hated the noise, annoying was an understatement. He grabbed a can of all-purpose lubricant, just to stop the dreadful noise for the time being. As he opened the door he saw his friend, Garrus on his back waist deep in wires and cables.

"Garrus, I thought you'd be on the Citadel right now enjoying some leave."

Garrus pulled his head out of the Thanix cannon's control console, his face covered in grease and wire clippings.

"I thought I'd stay back and optimize the cannon's firing rate, we barely had time to fully charge it when we faced off against that Collector ship. I thought if I spliced a few…"

Shepard, who had a genuine look of worry across his face, cut Garrus off mid sentence.

"Garrus, you really should be enjoying yourself, you're always in here calibrating something, re-wiring the firing timer or charge rate. You can't just lock yourself up in here all day."

It wasn't the first time Garrus heard that; Shepard was always coming in to check on him. They had grown close, and their friendship was cemented well before they landed on Ilos two years back.

"The whole party scene isn't for me Shepard, your culture has a word for it, "nerd" I think."

Shepard smiled, and helped Garrus off the floor.

"Well, in my culture being a nerd usually means you're two hundred percent smarter than the guy next to you. Hey, I have an idea. Why don't you go wash up and meet me in my cabin and we'll watch a vid or something. Remember how we used to do that on the old SR1?"

Garrus looked down at the mess of wires and cables, strewn aloft on the floor in multiple directions.

"Shepard, I should really clean up this mess. I have to get the cannon up and running aga.."

"Leave that to Tali, it'll give her something to do when she gets back, and I don't think we're going to need that cannon while we're docked at the Citadel. I think what you need is a good dose of relaxation and fun. So go clean up and meet me in my cabin."

It wasn't something he wanted to think about, to Garrus relaxing meant a chance for someone to ask you about yourself or your problems and neither of those were something he was good at. But he could see that Shepard was genuinely worried about him, and he didn't like it when people were worrying about him.

"Ok Shepard, let me go take a quick shower and I'll be up in a bit."

"Sounds like a plan Garrus."

Shepard sat waiting in the lofty Captains quarters, which was far more extravagant than the small room the now destroyed SR1 offered. It was nice that Shepard finally had a decent sized place to share time with Garrus. There was a hiss as the doors to the Captain's quarters parted, Garrus shyly walked through the door wearing the Turian equivalent of Human nightwear.

"Hey Shepard."

Shepard gestured for Garrus to have a seat on one of the leather couches Cerberus was kind enough to install in the Captain's quarters.

"Make yourself comfortable, you want anything to drink? I could always go raid Rupert's stock of dextro DNA foodstuffs?"

"I'm fine Shepard, but thanks."

Garrus looked weary, Shepard wondered how much sleep his friend was actually getting these days.

"So Garrus, what do you want to watch? Action, comedy or just something cheesy?"

"Oh, it's whatever you want to watch. I'm not picky."

Shepard sorted through the selection of vids that were displayed on his coffee tables holo deck, a new addition to his quarters after he decided to move that pulsating Prothean artifact off the table and into the SR2's storage room.

"I know how much you like explosions, how about an action flick?"

Garrus had already made himself quite the divot in the couch, looking comfortable and exhausted.

"Sounds great."

With that Shepard selected the vid, and the Captain quarter's lights dimmed. A large holographic display appeared in the space between his aquarium and armor locker. Garrus had a feeling he hadn't felt in a very long time, he felt like he belonged somewhere and for the first time since he realized it was Shepard storming his position on Omega, he was happy.

"Thanks Shepard, for everything. I'm glad we're friends."

Shepard was not so much taken back by the comment, as he was glad to see Garrus showing some emotion other than rage or worry.

"I'm glad we're friends too Garrus, I consider you family."

Family was something Garrus had forgotten about ever since his father had left him, his sister and mother when he found out Garrus was leaving the Turian military.

"That…, that means a lot Shepard."

For a long time they sat silently, enjoying the escape that the vid was relaying. Even if it distracted them for only a couple of hours, it was something both of them needed. About halfway through the vid Shepard looked over at where Garrus was sitting, he had fallen asleep. He was slouched back in the couch, his body relaxed. It was something that concerned Shepard greatly, was his friend always so stressed that the only time he could have a relaxing and deep sleep was when he was not alone? Either way, Shepard didn't want to wake him. Garrus needed this; it looked like that ever since they came back from dealing with the Collectors.

Shepard decided he'd sleep down in the crew deck and let Garrus have the cabin to himself so he could have some undisturbed sleep. As he took the elevator down, he realized why telling Garrus he was family meant so much to him. Shepard had learned through Liara that Garrus' mother was suffering from Corpalis syndrome, a degenerative disease that effected Turians. It was fatal in most cases, and her treatments were something Garrus was secretly funding with the small amount of credits he had. Shepard also learned that Garrus had a fractured relationship with his sister, a person who he had relied on when he was younger to stand up to his father. Shepard wondered if Garrus would ever open up to him, it would be so much easier for Shepard to help Garrus if he knew what was wrong.

Garrus was having the same dream again, it came in stages. It wasn't so much a dream as much as it was a time line, albeit an extremely painful one. The dream always began with the night his father had left; he never gave the family any reason except it was because Garrus had dishonored him by leaving the Turian military to work for C-Sec. His father did however leave Garrus one thing to remember him by, and that was a blow to the left side of his face. His sister kept telling him it wasn't his fault, that it was his father's sense of pride that got the better of him. Garrus still felt as though it was his fault his father had left the family, his burden.

The next segment of the dream was by far the most unsettling, the day the SR1 was lost. Garrus could remember ever second, every detail that haunted him. The explosions as the hull was ripped apart and consumed by fire, the frantic cries that filled the decks as the crew piled into the escape pods. Garrus was desperately running through the crew deck trying to locate Sheaprd, when Wrex grabbed him by the torso and threw him into an open escape pod. The Krogan had tossed him in full force, his head hitting the back of the pod as he went unconscious. All he could remember after that was waking up in the escape pod with Wrex and a few crew members sitting adjacent to him. He cursed the Krogan, how could Wrex have left Shepard back in that inferno? Wrex's only words were how Garrus had his whole life ahead of him, how he was just a kid and that is was Shepard who had given Wrex the order to find Garrus and get him off of the SR1.

The last part of the dream was of Garrus' year and a half on Omega. How his team had been betrayed by one of their own. Garrus had walked into the firefight where half of his team lay dead, the others barely holding on. They fought valiantly to the last man, but the last two standing pleaded that Garrus get to safety. To honor their request was all Garrus could do; it was his fault, all his fault. He should have known Sidonis had turned, should have seen in coming.

The dream ended there, as well as waking in a shiver. Every time he awoke from that dream, he wished he were dead.

Every night it was the same dream, over and over. Garrus hated sleep because of it. He was always trying to keep himself up at night so he didn't have to relive those moments ever again.

Garrus awoke from the dream as always, shivering and breathing heavily. Only this time he wasn't in the main battery, but in Shepard's quarters. He lifted himself off of the couch slowly, thinking Shepard would be over at his console. But he wasn't there, he wasn't anywhere. Then it hit Garrus, maybe he was still dreaming, perhaps this was the SR1 and the explosions would come at any second. No, it couldn't be, this was the SR2's Captain's quarters. Another thought hit Garrus harder than the last; maybe Shepard wasn't _on _The SR2. Oh spirits, it was happening all over again! Garrus ran over to the comms terminal and broadcast across all decks.

"Shepard, are you there?"

No answer.

"Shepard!"

Still nothing but the crackle of static.

Garrus ran to the elevator, and pressed the button that would lead to the CIC. It was the longest in an elevator Garrus had ever endured. The crew was still absent when he reached the CIC, he was hurrying through the different rooms now. The armory, the lab, even the bridge, Shepard wasn't there. He ran back into the elevator, slowly making his way down to the crew deck. As soon as the doors parted he rushed forward, he ran out into the mess hall were Shepard was sitting reading a news holo.

"Shepard! I called over the comms terminal but you didn't answer!"

Garrus was breathing heavily and he had a look of terror on his face. Shepard had never seen Garrus like this; he usually had a calmness about him in any given situation.

"Oh, the comms terminal is offline. It hasn't been working properly since we docked. Are you ok Garrus? You look terrible."

Garrus felt embarrassed now, all that worrying for nothing. It should have been obvious that the comms were on the fritz, after all that's what the static meant.

"I'm, I'm ok Shepard. I just thought I'd lo…"

Garrus stopped right there, lowering his head. Shepard, knowing Garrus better than anyone else did, knew exactly what he meant.

"You thought I was spaced again didn't you, Garrus?

Garrus was looking more and more uncomfortable by the second.

"I, I don't want to talk about it Shepard."

"Garrus, I'm not going anywhere, I promise. Even if I were I would have let you know. Besides, I've been in that same position with _you_, I know how you feel. When we brought you into the SR2s sick bay after we found you on Omega, you were a mess. Dr. Chakwas had to give you a shot of adrenaline just to keep you from going into shock, minus the pain killer. I was there the whole time though Garrus, I was there when you woke up halfway through the surgery writhing in pain, screaming. Chakwas had to kick me out of the med bay after that. I thought _you_ were going to leave _me_, Garrus."

Garrus walked over to the mess table pulling out a chair, and sat down.

"If you knew how I felt, then why'd you do it Sheaprd, why'd you have Wrex throw me in that escape pod? I could have gotten to you in time, I could have gotten you off the Normandy!"

Shepard never thought his decision to tell Wrex to heave Garrus off the SR1 weighed that heavily on him."

"I wanted you to move on, to live a good life. You couldn't have gotten to me, the decks were severed in half and the SR1 didn't carry EVA suits on board. I didn't want you to waste your life over me."

Garrus was looking at Shepard with a confused look on his face.

"You sound just like my father."

Garrus immediately wished he could have taken that back. Spirits, why did he say that?

"You don't have the best relationship with him I take it? Liara showed me some files the Shadow Broker had on you, I told her to delete them."

"So you know about my father, great."

"You don't have to be ashamed Garrus, what he did was inexcusable. You deserve better than that."

"Maybe. It was still my fault he left us; I shouldn't have left the military to work with C-Sec. My father wanted better for me, he had worked with C-Sec all his life and didn't want me to end up there. I don't blame him, after all the time I spent in C-Sec I didn't change a damn thing."

"It wasn't your fault Garrus, just because you wanted something different than what your father wanted for you. Besides, if you hadn't joined C-Sec we would have never caught Saren!"

"Thanks, I never looked at it that way before. Maybe Wrex was right, I'm just a naïve kid that looks at the universe in black and white."

"Wrex doesn't know you like I know you Garrus, I think you see the universe the way it is."

Shepard saw this as well a time as any to dig a little deeper. He wanted to know what bothered Garrus, so that he could try and help his friend.

"So, how's your sister?"

Garrus didn't want to answer, but he could see that Shepard wasn't going to end the conversation.

"She's fine, taking care of my mother."

"She means a lot to you doesn't she?"

"My sister was the only one who ever stood up to my father, she protected me from his backlash a great deal of the time. She did all that for me, because she cared and I can't even look her in the eye for a vid sync."

Shepard was finally getting somewhere with Garrus, he could finally help.

"Is it because you don't want her to see your scars, you don't want her to worry about you?"

Garrus started to feel a lump in his throat, but he suppressed it.

"I don't like it when people worry about me, especially family. I don't want my sister to know that I've been a merc on Omega; I don't want her to know I've fought Reapers and Collectors. She'd tell mom and that's the last thing she needs in her condition."

Shepard was deeply saddened when he first heard of his mother's condition, and he wished Garrus had come to him for help.

"You should have told me Garrus, I could have helped fund her treatments sooner."

"I didn't want to put that burden on you, I can handle it."

"I'm your friend Garrus, I consider you my _best_ friend. I'd help you no matter what it was, you should know that."

Garrus started to look exactly like he did before confronting Sidonis on the Citadel, and he started to sound the same too. That choked up voice, the look of helplessness in his eyes.

"I don't want her to die Shepard. She's one of the only people I have left in my life."

"I know you don't Garrus. I'm going to start funding her treatments from now on, don't tell me no either. I'll talk to Mordin as well; we'll find a way. That I promise."

Garrus didn't know what to say, he didn't know how to tell Shepard that he was the greatest friend he ever had. How he meant more to him than his father ever did.

"Promise you wont leave me again Shepard. Those two years without you were the worst of my life. You're the only friend I've got left in this galaxy."

"If I'm going anywhere Garrus, you're coming with me. But you have to promise _me_ that you wont lock yourself in the main battery anymore. I also want you to start sleeping in an actual bed and not on the main battery's floor. If you don't want to sleep in the crew bunks, my couch is always on option."

Garrus looked like he had just had a weight removed off of his back.

"I don't think I'll be locking myself up in there anymore, I'm lonely enough as it is."

The two of them got up from the mess table, they had to start getting the SR2 up and running again for the crew when they returned. As they were walking back to the elevator Garrus did something that he'd never done before. Garrus hugged Shepard, hard as he could. Shepard didn't know what to do, all he could mange was to give Garrus a pat on the back. Garrus pulled away.

"Thanks Shepard, for being there."


End file.
